34 Canadian women’s crews will compete in the championship, club, lightweight, collegiate, and youth categories in Boston. Crews range from defending champions hoping to claim a consecutive title to newcomers gaining experience on this historic course. Keep an eye out for strong Canadian talent in the masters and alumni categories as well.
Women’s Championship Singles –
- Racing for Rowing Canada Aviron High Performance is Katie Clark, fresh off a seventh place in the single at the 2025 World Rowing Championships. She placed fourth at both the Varese and Lucerne World Rowing Cups earlier in the year, and second in the championship single at Canadian Henley. On pure form, she should be able to match or improve on her fifth-place result from last year’s HOCR, but the performances in this category may be unpredictable due to the various post-Worlds breaks that the athletes took.
- Shannon Kennedy is also representing Rowing Canada Aviron HP; she placed sixth in the championship double in 2024 and also won The Princess Grace Challenge Cup that year (with Clark). In 2025 she raced The Princess Royal Challenge Cup, losing in the quarterfinals to the eventual eighth-place finisher at the World Rowing Championships. She should have a good shot at a top-ten finish at HOCR this year.
Women’s Championship Doubles –
- Cassidy Deane is racing the championship double for Rowing Canada Aviron HP again, after a strong sixth place in 2024. Kristen Siermachesky joins her; these two athletes raced together at the 2025 World Rowing Championships, finishing sixth in the quad (the first A-final for a Canadian quad in over a decade) and seventh in the eight. A top-three finish should be possible for this crew.
Women’s Championship Fours –
- University of British Columbia (UBC) are returning to this event for the first time since the mid-2000s, and should be able to match or better their top five placing. Gaby Worobec has stroked two Canadian eights to international bronze medals recently – U23 World Rowing Championships in 2025 and FISU in 2024. Gabby Yarema was also part of the FISU eight in 2024, and won Canadian Henley in the four in 2025. She is joined by Maddy Vandermeer, who placed fifth in the four at the World University Games this summer. Coxswain Izzy Howley raced for Rowing Canada at Canadian Henley this year, and Emelie Lustig made the varsity eight for the first time this season.
- Kingston Rowing Club includes two other members of the Canadian bronze-medal eight from FISU 2024 – Rachel Weber, and coxswain Gabriella Diaz (formerly of UBC). Claire Ellison won bronze in the eight at the 2023 U23 World Rowing Championships. Brigitte Gaudert is a former Queens University lightweight, winning silver at the national championships last year in the coxed four. Paige Adams is a Queens alumni who has won multiple medals at University nationals. This crew has the potential for a top-eight finish.
Women’s Lightweight Fours –
- UBC are sending four of their Western Canadian University Rowing Championships champions – Morgan Harris-Stoertz, Bronwyn Posynick, Willa Pepin, and coxswain Isabella Chung. Posynick and Pepin won the senior lightweight pair at Canadian Henley this summer. Alex Duggan placed fourth in this event in 2023. Based on their performance at the Western Canadian University Rowing Championships two weeks ago, this crew should be able to place in the top five.
- University of Western Ontario Boat Club won the Head of the Trent two weeks ago, with their lineup of coxswain Sophie Rorabeck, Kairsen Frick, Mary Brooksbank, Hayley Buchanan and Sydney McArthur. Frick and Buchanan placed fourth at University nationals last year in this event, and Frick won two Canadian Henley golds this summer.
- Kingston was only four seconds behind Western at Head of the Trent with their crew of Isidora Ferguson, Gillian Jansen, Brigitte Gaudert, Julia Teixeira (these four athletes won silver at University nationals last year) and coxswain Nicole Schmidt. Ferguson and Teixeira won Henley gold this summer, in the U23 lightweight pair and single respectively. These two crews should be able to place in the top seven at HOCR, and may be battling with UBC for the top Canadian crew.
Women’s Lightweight Singles –
- Sophie Taylor of Edmonton Rowing Club placed second in the lightweight single dash at Canadian Henley – she will be aiming for a top half finish.
Women’s Collegiate Fours –
- The defending champions Carleton University are back, with three athletes returning – Megan Elekes, Klaudija Krisjane, and Hayley Murray. They are joined by newcomers Anna Vrbaski and coxswain Charlotte Mercer. After wins at both the Head of the Rideau and Head of the Trent regattas, this crew is in form to claim the title again in 2025.
Women’s Club Fours –
- The St. Catharines Rowing Club lineup is unconfirmed, but they did have a club crew win Head of the Trent by over 90s, which would be a formidable entry for HOCR – likely in the top ten even when starting from bow #48.
Women’s Youth Singles –
- Sierra Kelly from Niagara Falls Rowing Club stroked the U19 quad at last year’s HOCR (placing top half) and at Canadian Henley (placing fourth). Starting in bow #8, she should have a good chance of placing in the top third of the 46 entries.
- Samaya Khosla of Ottawa Rowing Club made the semifinals at Canadian Henley in the U19 double and quad and placed sixth at Head of the Trent – top twenty should be in reach for her.
- Laura McKenzie of Nanaimo Rowing Club was named to the British Columbia junior team for this year’s Canada Cup, where she placed eighth in the single and fourth in the double. A top half result would be a good accomplishment for her.
Women’s Youth Doubles –
- Heidi Wallin of Calgary Rowing Club placed second in the U17 category and 12th overall last year, and has a new partner – Tryne Mamen. They won the U17 quad title at Canadian Henley for the second year in a row, placed third in the U17 double, and Mamen finished second in the U17 single. They should be able to match or better the result from last year – aiming for a top eight finish.
- Lauren Deprez of Niagara Falls Rowing Club finished one place behind Calgary at last year’s HOCR – for third in the U17 category and 13th place overall. She made the finals in the U17 double, U17 quad, U23 lightweight double, and senior lightweight quad at Canadian Henley this year. Her partner, Virginia Gates, placed third in the U17 singles (eighth overall) at HOCR last year and competed at the U19 World Rowing Championships in the quad this summer. Together they won the senior double at CSSRAs. They will be in a tough battle with Calgary for a top ten overall finish.
- Notre Dame Rowing Club has entered Ella Paquin and Kathleen Lowry. Paquin won CSSRAs in the junior coxed quad, and Lowry placed fifth in the U17 eight at Canadian Henley this year. A top half finish should be in the cards for them this year.
- Thunder Rowing Club, Ridley College Rowing Club, and St. Catharines crew lineups (all racing U19 this year) are not available. Thunder won the U17 double and placed tenth overall last year, and if they field a crew of similar speed could be formidable. Ridley placed sixth last year in the U17 double / 24th overall. St. Catharines has 14 youth women entered across all events, so it’s impossible to predict the relative strength of each entry.
Women’s Youth Quads –
- Niagara Falls placed 24th in this event last year, and have a completely new crew. Katerina Egorova finished third in the U17 double last year at HOCR, and fourth in the U19 quad at Canadian Henley this summer with Keira Smith and Amelia Priestley. Leah Matthews placed fifth at Henley in the U17 double and sixth in the U17 quad. With coxie Jordyn Quintyn, this crew should have a good shot at top ten overall.
- Argonaut Rowing Club finished 18th last year, and rising star Natalie McClure will be gunning for a higher finish this time around. She won the Canadian Henley title in the U17 single, and just won Head of the Trent overall as a U17. Her and her crewmates should be able to place in the top ten this year.
- St. Catharines placed fourth last year, and had a junior quad win Head of the Trent 19 seconds ahead of the Argonauts entry – another top five result may be in the cards for them.
- Vancouver Rowing Club’s crew includes Carolina Radke and Charlotte Clark, who placed sixth in the U17 double at Canadian Henley this year.
- Thunder, Notre Dame, and St. Michaels University School round out the entries. Thunder placed eleventh, and Notre Dame placed 26th overall and top U17.
Women’s Youth Fours –
- St. Catharines placed fifth in the U17 event last year. Based on a sixth-place result in the U17 eight at Canadian Henley this year, they should be able to achieve a similar result at HOCR.
- St. Catharines is also entering the U19 category, where they again placed fifth in 2024. Based on a win at Head of the Trent and solid results across the U19 categories at Canadian Henley, it’s likely they can improve on their top five placing this year.
- Havergal Rowing Club finished about 90 seconds behind St. Catharines at Head of the Trent, and may slip back from their 31st place finish last year.
- Branksome Hall has a crew in both the U17 and U19 categories this year. They placed second at CSSRAs in the junior coxed four which should indicate a top-third finish in the U17 category, but their CSSRA placing in the senior coxed four was lower than last year. In the U19, they may be aiming for top half this year.
Women’s Youth Eights –
- Ridley College placed fifth last year with a mostly junior national team crew. They just sent a youth eight to the Head of Shanghai River Regatta, winning gold in the 500m sprint event. It is unknown if the same crew are racing in Boston.
- Brentwood College has won the senior eight in back to back years at CSSRA’s, and placed 21st last year in an improvement from 30th the year prior. They should be able to crack into the top twenty this year.
